Life is not all it's cracked up to be
by byaboo
Summary: This story is mine under a different username, GAgal05. I am reworking this story a little bit. I have decided to condense all my writing to one user so I have brought this story over. It is a postwar world and we follow Hermione and Draco as they deal with their changed worlds. This story is rated M.
1. Author Note

**I welcome all of you who have either followed me from my GAgal05 account or those who have just randomly clicked on this story. I had issues with my other account and remembering the password so I could begin to write on the story again but since I couldn't remember it I decided to switch to my more active account. **

**~Byaboo**


	2. Chapter 1

~Hermione~

The war was over and had been for 8 years, Voldemort was dead and Harry was happily living his life. Hermione sighed as she read his latest letter. He was engaged to Ginny Weasly. She knew that she would soon be hearing from Ron to say the same thing. Ginny had already shown up to tell her the good news even before the owl got there with Harry's letter. She tried to be happy for them, but she has had the hardest time coping with how her life has changed. Yes she and Ron had dated, even going as far as talking about getting engaged, but when it came time they realized that they were just too different for each other and it wouldn't have worked. Everyone thought they would end up together, that whole opposites attract mindset, but in reality the fact that Ron still embraced the magic was just something that she couldn't understand.

Hermione then made the hardest choice she ever had and that was to leave the wizarding world behind and live solely in the muggle world. Thankfully having muggle parents and friends made the transition slightly easier but what surprised Hermione the most was that she didn't miss the magic at all. All the time she had spent in Hogwarts and learning and fighting for their future, she thought that it would have been more difficult for her to leave it all behind. Her wand was stored in a never used guest room closet in the original box it came in. The last spell she ever did was to erase her parents' memories of her time at Hogwarts; as far as they and anyone else were concerned Hermione just went to the local private school, making sure to create the records necessary for her to be able to attend college. She graduated college with a Masters in Psychology and was currently working as a professor in her alma mater.

Hermione lived in a modest two bedroom house just outside of London. She looked out her window at the rainy day and felt relaxed. She has always loved the rain. There was a sudden knock on her door and for a second her heart froze.

"Please don't be him, please" she muttered on her way to the door. Looking through the peep hole she smiled, it was her mom with a basket.

"Mum, what are you doing here?" She could feel her mother looking her up and down as she stepped aside to let her in.

"Oh no real reason dear I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd bring lunch for us." Her mom made no question about having Hermione eat. Before she could even respond her mother was putting the plate with half a sandwich in her hands. Hermione sat at the kitchen table and tore a small piece of the sandwich off and with great effort chewed and swallowed it. It wasn't that the sandwich was bad, it was her favorite actually, but Hermione just never seemed to have an appetite anymore. Her mom sat a bowl of vegetable soup next to her with a spoon and sat down across from Hermione. Apparently her mother just wasn't going to let this go any longer. With great effort Hermione ate her meal, which just sat in her stomach like lead.

"Hermione, your father and I are really worried about you. We can see it on your face every time you think no one is looking." What could Hermione say that wouldn't give away her past? She just looked at her mother and smiled a small smile and tried to convey happiness.

"Mum, for the thousandth time I am fine. I know you and Dad are concerned about me but you needn't be." Her mother looked at her once more before gathering the dirty dishes and putting the remaining food in the refrigerator, noting that there was almost nothing but half and half and an apple that was well beyond its ripeness. Her mom knew that the best she could do was give her daughter time and hope that she would tell her what is wrong soon.

Once her mom had left Hermione went and laid down in her bed and let the tears come. Why shouldn't she be sad, Hermione thought bitterly, she fought in a war and watched people dying around her. Fred, Tonks, Remus, Sirius, Snape and untold others who weren't even old enough to drive were dead. From sheer exhaustion she fell into a fitful sleep. Her dream was always the same one. She is standing before Voldemort her wand in hand but she can't raise her arm. As hard as she tries she can't even make it move a hair. She watches helplessly as she sees Harry run in and be killed. Next is always Ron, his red hair blown back by the killing spell hitting him square in the chest. The surprising person was Draco, he would stand next to Voldemort and just stare at her. He would begin calling her vicious names and mocking her family. Voldemort would join in as the Deatheaters would begin to circle around her and the bodies of Harry and Ron. She would cry for death but she had no voice. They would just laugh and taunt her more. Typically, she would wake up as the Deatheaters reanimated Harry and Ron's bodies and danced them around her like creepy marionette dolls.

"I cannot believe you are standing there telling me that Ron." Her voice was full of annoyance. Not only did he show up unannounced he just apparated in front of her door. He knew she lived with muggles and that it was unacceptable.

"I don't understand why you would just abandon a part of yourself. We miss you, Hermione, I miss you please come back." Ron's voice, usually having an edge of humor in it was lacking that which made Hermione raise her head. He had tears in his eyes.

"I love you, Hermione, I….look I know the miscarriage hurt you a lot but we can still be together. We are stronger that way. I want to marry you, I want us back."

"Ron, it wasn't just the miscarriage that made me decide this. Things were….are easier this way. This is what I know, this world is what I lived prior to Hogwarts. That whole time was us trying to stay alive, even our first year with the sorcerer's stone. That is not a life I want to live anymore. Please go." She didn't wait to see him leave; walking into her bedroom she pushed the door to and waited for the telltale pop of him disapparating.

~Draco~

It was a little before sunrise when Draco woke up. His mind was already going, even before he was fully awake. He heard a muffled sigh come from next to him and it took him a second to remember he had brought someone home with him the night before. For the life of him he could not remember what her name was or really what she looked like. He quietly got out of bed and left the room. He wanted to avoid as awkward a moment as he could. He walked down the stone staircase to the kitchen. His parents had long since been taken to Azkaban for their crimes and Draco had inherited their mansion. Most of it stood unused and collecting dust. He had long ago freed the house elves seeing as there was no need to keep all of them on for just one person.

Draco could hear the girl calling his name and he stayed silent leaning against the cool marble counter. He heard the girl leaving out the front door and Draco let his breath go, odd that he didn't realize he'd been holding it. He knew he needed to stop bringing random girls home to ease his loneliness. In his cavernous kitchen with his hands around a mug of coffee Draco's brain wandered to her. The one that got away, well she was never his to begin with. How could it be that someone so his opposite would be the one that he desired most of all? Draco always assumed it was because she always stood for what was right and good in the world and he was forced to stand for the opposite. It's not like you can say no to the Dark Lord when he tells you to do his bidding. The rest of it all stemmed from him not wanting to disappoint a father that rarely showed any emotion above annoyance and anger. His mother was just a stony towards him. When he got his acceptance letter to Hogwarts his parents barely acknowledged it. He has since realized that they just expected him to get in because they both went there.

Even now he can remember the heart stopping moment he saw her tangled nest of brown hair. It was on the train the first year. He was all a bundle of nerves, anxious about what will happen and excited to be away from his family. He heard her before he saw her, asking about a frog. He leaned over and saw her slide into another coach. She never made it down to where he was sitting; he had hoped she would so he could try to talk to her. It always seemed to him that Ron and Harry always took her for granted. Draco was so lost in his thoughts that he was in his car driving to work before realizing what he was doing, thankfully he was dressed and neat looking. He was running a few minutes late and was at a stop light when he saw that same nest of brown hair, though tamed through the years, walking across the cross walk. His heart stopped, and he was startled when the car behind him honked for him to go.

Draco hurriedly rushed into his office building. The lift was just beginning to close and he caught a glimpse of someone inside.

"Hold up the lift." He was not paying attention to the person as he jumped on the lift. He pressed the button for his floor. A small gasp grabbed his attention. He usually got some sort of question whenever someone saw the dark mark on his arm, even though it was covered up with a dress shirt and suit jacket. When he turned to see who had gasped he returned a gasp. It was Hermione. The one that had gotten away. The one that stood for everything he couldn't. The one that haunted his dreams.

"Hello Draco. It has been a while since I've seen you. How are you doing these days?" It took him a minute for his mouth to start working.

"Things are going well Hermione. How about you? How are Ron and his family doing, and Harry him as well?"

"They are doing well as am I, thank you." Before they could continue talking her floor arrived. She looked once more at him and walked away from the doors. It was a good five minutes later before Draco could focus on what he was doing well enough to not just sit and stare at his computer. He wondered why she was there in this building. It is not a common wizard place. Hell as far as he knew he was one of four other wizards in the building.

Draco had tried to settle down after the war He had dated a girl from Hufflepuff and while she was a nice and sweet girl, Draco just could not get the feeling that he shouldn't be with anyone out of his head. He was part of the reason for everything that happened. He had been complicit with it, at least. He could have done more to try and prevent Voldemort from coming into power. It was that thought that kept him up most nights. He had a reoccurring nightmare that he killed Hermione. He could see her crumpling to the ground. It was the one thing that kept him going out at night and seeking comfort from anywhere he could. The weird thing was that he never really had any trouble finding someone to bring home. There were women who practically fawned all over him. He could easily tell those who were with him for his money and those who were with him because of his, as they liked to say, walk on the dark side. Let's face it, being marked as a Deatheater is about as dark as one could get. He typically just drank and glared at anyone who came near him. The almost constant hangover was getting in the way of Draco being able to do his work.

Draco sat in the ember lit living room sipping on some firewhisky. He thought he had gotten over her but when he saw her in the lift it was almost like a sign. Those eight years felt like they hadn't passed yet. He was still that awkward boy, not quite a little kid but not a man just yet. He noticed that she didn't have a wedding ring on. He was sure that Weasly had gotten her because last he saw them they were all over each other. With that memory Draco had to swallow around a lump that was forming in his throat. He wasn't quite sure when at Hogwarts he had fallen for her, sometime before the war broke out.

One day during their flex schedule he had seen her sitting beneath a tree reading and his heart skipped a beat. Her hair was gently blowing in the wind and the sun was just starting to set and she practically glowed. He had always wondered if things had been different whether she would have ever looked at him the way he did her. If she were in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor, would her same alliance with Potter and Weasly stand or would she have banded together with him and his group.

Draco threw his near full glass of firewhisky onto the embers watching them flare up. He hadn't had a decent meal in what seemed like forever. He grabbed his jacket and decided to take in the town where he works. He wanted to see what all his coworkers were talking about when they talked about this restaurant having the best burgers. He had overheard one of his coworkers raving about it that afternoon. People had written all over the walls and there were more people at the bar than at the tables. He took a seat in a booth near the bar to do his favorite thing and people watch. Hell that's how he had gotten his job. It came as quite a surprise to him that he had the ability to tell who was a witch or wizard and who was a muggle with relative ease. Draco's brain wandered back to that night four months ago.

~Draco: Four months earlier~

It was early; the sun must have just cleared the tree line and was starting to come into his suite window, when his phone rang. Groggily Draco sat up and grabbed it and almost didn't answer it since the number was unknown. He had half hoped that she had tracked him down and that was the main reason he had answered. He typically just grunted as an opening for whomever was on the other end to begin speaking.

"Mr. Malfoy, sir I work for a law office and we were wondering if you would come in for a meeting. We, uh have a unique issue that we think you could help us with. Before you say no, we know who you are and what, more importantly, you are sir." That beyond anything intrigued him.

"You haven't even told me your name so how am I supposed to agree to meet you. For all I know you are just trying to get money out of me."

"My name is of no importance, I am just an assistant. You will be working for Mr. Cohen; if you come in for a meeting, he will be the one you would see."

"What, exactly, do you mean you know what I am, am I an animal or an alien? Because I can tell you that I am neither and do not appreciate the threat." Without another word Draco hung up. The phone call bugged him though. After searching the internet for two hours trying to narrow down the search of Mr. Cohen using the limited information that Draco called back.

"Ok I will see Mr. Cohen at three o'clock." Draco hung up his phone and quickly went to his favorite web page. He stared at her picture; she always takes his breath away. She had grown out of whatever awkwardness she had when she was younger. Even though her picture was still it felt like she was staring right at him. He could feel himself start reacting to the thought of looking into her eyes. _I won't go down that path again. I need to stop this. She doesn't even know I exist and I am not going to keep this fantasy up anymore._

"Mr. Malfoy, thank you for coming and meeting me. I know that my assistant was a little…..abstract in his explanation. I assume you have noticed why I picked this particular location for our little meeting." It was then that Draco noticed that everyone except the man sitting across from him was a witch or wizard.

"How do you know about us? And what can I do for you that your own kind can't do just the same?" The man seemed a little taken aback by the directness. If he was annoyed or agitated he didn't show it.

"I have been trying to search for someone who can tell the difference between us Mr. Malfoy. Usually all they can say is that your kind dress weird but that's not good enough. Thieves know how to blend in and I need someone-"

"You need someone who can tell the difference to make sure that they aren't under another's magical persuasion." Cohen smiled and nodded. He then held out a document in a clear sleeve.

"It's been tampered with. If I'm not mistaken it's a transformation paper. The paper appears one way to the person being misled and to everyone else it reads how the writer wanted it to appear." Another nod and smile from Cohen. He then handed Draco a piece of paper with a large number written on it. Draco looked at the number and nodded at Cohen. Draco had started to get over the feelings for Hermione, or at least he thought he had. Seeing her in the elevator just made him realize that those feelings were still there and weren't going anywhere. Why hadn't Draco noticed the name on the directory before? There it was as clear as day was Patrick Granger, Attorney.


End file.
